Photonics are making a big impact in space applications.
Main segments are:
- Microwave photonics to offer new functionality and performance to RF payloads.
- Optical transceivers to allow high-speed optical digital links to interconnect digital processors.
- Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs), e.g., for micro spectrometers, integrated solid state gyro, laser beam steering and optical modulation/demodulation.
- Fibre Bragg Gratings (FBGs) and other sensing approaches to measure temperature, strain, acceleration, and rotation.
- LiDAR for high-spatial resolution, tropospheric wind measurements, cloud & aerosols measurements and topographic height and positioning